The Supreme Court (SC) delivered a landmark ruling on Thursday, saying those Hindus who convert to Islam cannot claim reservation benefits under the Muslim Backward Class category solely on the basis of their social status before conversion. The top court upheld a judgment delivered by the Madras High Court (HC) earlier, which struck down a Tamil Nadu government order permitting such claims.

A bench of the top court, comprising Justice PK Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar dismissed the plea filed by the Tamil Nadu government, holding that a person’s backward-class status before getting converted to another religion does not, by itself, establish eligibility for affirmative action benefits under Article 16(4) of the Indian Constitution.

The bench remarked, “A person who converts to Islam does not become part of the Muslim backward class category. A person’s pre-conversion status cannot confer on him the status of backwardness.”

Why did the top court junk TN Govt’s plea?

The Tamil Nadu government had challenged the Madras HC’s decision to quash a government order passed in 2024, which had allowed converts from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities and Scheduled Castes to procure community certificates under one of seven notified Muslim backward-class communities.

Meanwhile, the TN government contended that the order was based on the recommendations made by the state Backward Classes Commission. However, the apex court junked the contention, underscoring that conversion from the Hindu social order to a non-Hindu faith does not automatically preserve eligibility for caste-based reservation under Article 16(4).

It also held that pre-conversion social disadvantage alone does not suffice a person’s entitlement to affirmative action benefits under the Muslim backward-class category.

Origin of the dispute

The dispute originated with Paramasivam, a Hindu man who converted to Islam in 2015 and adopted the name Sameer Ahmed. After local authorities rejected his application for a Backward Class Muslim (BCM) certificate identifying him as a Labbai Muslim, he knocked on the doors of the Madras HC.

He contended that the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes Commission had recommended that Hindus from backward communities who converted to Islam should be recognised as Backward Class Muslims and issued the corresponding community certificates.

However, the HC ruled against the claim, ruling that membership of a notified Muslim community could not be acquired merely by means of religious conversion.

Membership determined by birth, says HC

The Madras HC held that communities such as Labbai, Rowther, Marakkayar and Deccani Muslim are distinct socio-cultural groups whose membership is determined by birth rather than religious conversion.